Boyd caps off a stellar season

BIG BOPPER: Shannon Boyd smashes into the Kiwi defence during his debut.

The central west is now home to an Australian representative after Cowra’s Shannon Boyd started at prop in Australia’s convincing 26-6 win over the Kiwis on Saturday night.

The former Cowra Magpie ran out with the starting side at Perth’s nib Stadium and impressed during the 80 minutes, with his sheer physicality proving tough to deal with.

It capped off a meteoric rise for Boyd, who admitted last week he nearly walked away from the Canberra Raiders and the NRL during the last off-season.

“I nearly pulled the pin just before Stick [Ricky Stuart] came [to Canberra] and he told me ‘have one more crack and see how you go’,” he said.

Boyd went close to scoring on his international debut but it was man of the match and two try hero Greg Inglis who stole the headlines, while Valentine Holmes also impressed on debut in the five-tries-to-one win.